Why Did Arie Send Tia Home On 'The Bachelor'? Her Elimination Was Heartbreaking

The closer to the end of any given Bachelor season, the more heartbreaking the goodbyes become, and that was definitely the case on Monday night's episode. After hometown dates, Arie had to send one of his remaining four women home, and it was really hard to watch. But why did Arie send Tia home on The Bachelor? It seems like he just wasn't feeling the same thing for her as he was for the other women.

Up until the last second, it seemed like Arie was struggling to make his decision. Before handing out the roses, he even asked Kendall to talk to him, and it almost seemed certain that she was the one he was unsure of. But then, when it came time to hand out the roses, Tia was the last one standing, which meant that her journey on the show had finally come to an end.

It has to be really hard to be rejected by someone you've fallen so hard for so fast, and that has to count double when you're weeks away from a possible proposal and being filmed for national television. Tia was visibly hurt as she made her exit from the mansion, and it was so hard to see her cry like that.

Her first question to Arie was even sadder; she wanted to know what she'd done wrong. But Arie was quick to let her know that it definitely wasn't her — it was him. (Oldest line in the book.)

He said:

"I don't have a good explanation. I really don't. Believe me, I sat up all night last night. I don't know. There's just something missing. You didn't do anything wrong; you are an incredible woman and anyone would be lucky to be with you."

It makes sense that Arie wanted to let Tia go because he wasn't feeling that undefinable "it" toward her. For some people, falling in love comes with a feeling that it's "right" in their relationship, and if he didn't have that for Tia, he did the right thing in letting her go before things got any more serious. After all, it's fantasy suite dates and then the final rose ceremony — there's no time for hemming and hawing now.

And it definitely sounded like it was a hard decision for Arie — and that it truly didn't have to do with anything Tia had done "wrong." From everything he told her in those final minutes, it truly did seem to be about the chemistry, even if that was hard for her to understand.

"It's not about your worth. You're incredible," Arie told her. "It's just about the emotion between two people ... it wasn't anything you said or did or who you are, because you are incredible. I admire you."

However, when you've just gotten your heart broken, compliments don't always help... especially from the guy who just dumped you. Understandably, Tia was utterly devastated in her limo ride out of there, sobbing as the car pulled away. She announced that situations like this are why she guards her heart so closely, which makes sense. Who likes getting hurt like that? Then again, it's also the only way to ever find the person you're meant to spend the rest of your life with, which is what this process was all about.

After seeing her on The Bachelor all season long, it's pretty clear that Tia's a really cool person with a sweet family — and a lot to offer in a relationship. Just like Arie told her, anyone would be lucky to be with her, and now that she's officially been introduced to the world, it wouldn't be surprising if she had a long list of suitors waiting to talk to her. Perhaps even as the next Bachelorette...